DE PERE - Feelings of joy, pride and relief filled Amanda Drogos as she watched a performance of the musical “Annie” by students from Hemlock Creek Elementary School earlier this month.

Her son Connor, a fourth-grader, was on stage, part of a group of kids in a scene, in front of an audience at the West De Pere High School auditorium.

“That was a big step for him,” said Drogos, noting how 9-year-old Connor originally signed up to be a crew member behind the scenes. “He was up on stage. He did it on his own.”

Compare Drogos’ emotions that night to what she felt one evening six years earlier. Frustration, embarrassment and fear came over her as she carried a screaming 40-pound Connor, who has autism spectrum disorder, out of a shopping mall while being followed by a concerned security officer to her car.

“(Connor) got upset because they had to close the play area at the mall early,” Drogos recalled. “It upset his schedule, so he had trouble handling that. He refused to leave.”

Though Connor’s autism is incurable, intervention and treatment the last several years has alleviated some of his behavioral troubles. A considerable amount of help has come from Jennifer Leanna, who is the director of the new Center for Autism and Related Disorders in downtown De Pere.

The office is the first in Wisconsin for CARD, a California-based organization, which was founded in 1990 and has expanded to more than 20 states and overseas. Leanna said another center is opening in Madison.

The organization specializes in applied behavior analysis in the treatment of autism and related disorders.

The national Autism Society says more than 3.5 million Americans live with autism spectrum disorder.

What’s more, the prevalence of those in the U.S. with autism increased substantially from an average of one in 150 residents in 2000 to one in 68 just 10 years later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism is considered the fastest-growing developmental disability in the country.

“When he started this journey seven years ago, there wasn’t a lot known about this,” Drogos said of her son, who started showing autistic tendencies before he turned 2.

Leanna said a diagnosis for autism isn’t usually made until after symptoms start to show during an infant's developmental stages. Even then, a diagnosis may be delayed or never made.

Drogos said her son wasn’t diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder until last summer, despite clear signs that something was amiss when he was much younger.

Connor didn’t start talking until he was 3. He wasn’t potty-trained until he was 4. He also was hypersensitive to sensory input, including constant and loud noises.

“Jenny helped us with the symptoms at home, the things we had seen at home, and she also helped us with figuring out what’s the next step, how do we get what we need (for Connor) because I felt like nobody was listening to me at (his) school,” Drogo said. “They weren’t hearing what I was trying to get them to understand.”

Leanna, a West De Pere High School graduate, worked for CARD in California before she returned to her hometown to open the agency’s new office last fall. She frequently consulted with Drogos remotely to help with Connor’s treatment.

Connor has been among the first few clients with whom Leanna regularly works through the local CARD office. Those sessions, based on a personal treatment plan, can be as intensive as 20 to 30 hours per week.

Leanna said the communication and behavior deficiencies endured by many with autism go hand-in-hand.

“A lot of times, the behavior is fueled by the communication delays,” Leanna said. “So, if they can’t access their environment the way they want to and they can’t communicate with people the way they want to, then it causes bigger behavioral issues. If their communication isn’t there, they’re not accessing their social world.”

Leanna said sessions with clients run the gamut from casual to intense treatment, depending on the severity of a client's autism. She works to improve social delays, fine motor skills and problem solving using CARD's curriculum-based program.

Her sessions with clients are generally done in home for now. That will change when CARD moves into a larger facility for center-based treatment, with additional staff, later this year.

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Jennifer Leanna of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, left, works on applied behavioral analysis with client Connor Drogos, 9, in Leanna's De Pere office.(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Leanna also holds monthly training for parents of autistic kids.

The ultimate goal with the CARD program is recovery from delays brought on by autism.

“We want fast acquisition of skills,” Leanna said. “We want to see (children) get up to grade level, get up to age level of functioning as fast as possible … (but) some kids do take longer, though. So, we want them in our program as long as it’s effective for them. Then, once it stops being effective for them, we would (phase) them out or figure out what’s going on.”

Drogos knows her son will never be cured of autism.

“This isn’t a disease,” she said. “His wires are just a little bit different.”

However, the De Pere mom who dreaded taking a young Connor out in public because of his propensity for temper tantrums has been encouraged by the strides he’s made socially. She calls him a high-functioning kid who has done well in school and fits in with his fourth-grade class at Hemlock Creek, where he started in September after the family moved back to De Pere.

“If you look at my son, that’s a normal 9-year-old, running around with glasses on,” Drogos said. “He loves LEGOs, he loves Nerf guns, he loves everything superheroes, just like a normal kid.”

Where Connor still needs help, however, is in socializing among peers and controlling his fidgety behavior. Drogos said some adaptations were made in Connor’s classroom to help him focus during the day, including a seat that allows him to wobble at his desk and having Velcro underneath his desk so he can rub his fingers on it.

And, Drogos is hopeful Connor’s willingness to go on stage for a school play is a sign of a kid who may be done acting out in public.

“He’s learned to function in our society,” Drogos said.

tmcmaho2@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ToddMcMahon23

For more information

The CARD office is located at 327 Main Ave., Suite G. Call (920) 341-0123 or go to centerforautism.com.

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Jennifer Leanna of the Center for Autism Related Disorders works with client Connor Drogos, 9, on social cues in Leanna's De Pere office,(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)